Marin County officials find it hard to cap spending account

A plan to cap a controversial spending account at Civic Center got a shaky start in its first year as Marin County supervisors spent 10 percent more than they budgeted for.

The county board dipped into reserve funds to fill "community services" grant requests this fiscal year. So many requests for funding poured in that officials spent the $300,000 account and allocated an extra $29,000 to cover additional pet projects last month. At the time, supervisors noted a numnber of worthy projects were on tap thanks to taxpayers.

County Administrator Matthew Hymel said this week that a memo he signed that added another $50,000 in reserve fund spending to the grant tally was incorrect. He said he erred in describing a $50,000 "community partnership" grant to San Anselmo for Robson Harrington Park planning as a "community services" grant. "Partnership" grants are used in matching fund situations to leverage resources and are not "community services" grants, he said.

At issue is the controversial "community services" account blistered by critics as a "slush fund" and criticized by the civil grand jury as currying political patronage.

In what the county trumpeted as a reform of the fund, officials last year changed grant procedures and vowed to cap spending at $300,000 a year. Instead, supervisors spent $329,000 this year.

Under the program, the administration winnows requests submitted or "sponsored" by supervisors or their aides. No other comparable county in the state provides its supervisors with such a perk.